It
is always hard for me to use the verb miss correctly. I always
get confused, for instance, when I try to translate: Tu me manques.
Please advise me. Thanking you in advance.

Roger
Woodham replies:

miss
= fail to make contact with

There
are a number of shades of meaning when miss means 'fail to
make contact with'. Compare the following:

If
you're not careful you'll miss the flight and there isn't
another one till next week.

Is
Jenny still here? ~ You've just missed her. She left five
minutes ago.

He
scored four goals, but then he missed a penalty.

The
bullet just missedmy head. It whizzed past my ear
and embedded itself in the wall.

No,
you've missedthe point. Bobby GAVE her the money.
He didn't want it back.

The
railway station is right at the end of this road. You can't
miss it!

If
you leave the queue now, you'll miss your chance of seeing
this film.

It
was my granny's funeral last Thursday so I had to missall my lessons last week.

miss
= be sorry to be without

In
this sense, we can miss both people and things. This is the
meaning of miss that you allude to in your sentence Tu
memanques, Bernadette. Note in English we would not
translate it as You are missed by me. Instead, we would say
simply: I missyou! Compare the following:

I
miss my grandmother terribly. She was such a kind, gentle
person.

Will
you miss me when I'm away? ~ Oh, I shall miss you
all right!

What
do you miss most about the south of France now you're in
Britain?
~ I miss my family, I miss the people, I miss
the sunshine, I miss the cheese and the wine.

Do
you miss walking in the Pyrenees? ~ Yes, I miss
that too.

missing
/ missed (adjs) = lost / cannot be found

When
missing and missed are used as adjectives, they behave
like present and past participles, e.g missing pages are
pages that are missing, a missedopportunity
is an opportunity that has been missed. Note also that missing
is often placed after the noun it qualifies, rather than in front
of it. Compare the following:

The
weather cleared. We should have climbed the mountain. It was amissed opportunity.

They
were unable to complete the jigsaw as several pieceswere
missing.

Did
you know there are five pages missing from this book? It
goes from 32 to 43.

My
name was missing from the list of participants but it was
clear that I had enrolled.

Ten
people are known to have died in the blast and a further fifteen
are still missing.

Did
you know you've got a button missing from your blue shirt?

She
has been missing for over six months and has now been placed on
the missing persons register.

Note
that in this last example we talk about a missing person
or a missing persons register, rather than missing peopleor a missing peoples register, to emphasize the individuality
of people who have left home and it is not known whether they are
alive or dead.

miss
in idioms

Note
also idiomatic usage in the following expressions:

He
didn't have all the advantages of a proper education and really
missed out.

Growing
asparagus is very difficult and can be a very hit-and-miss
affair.

There
have been several near misses between planes landing at
this airport recently.

He's
failed his exams again and I think he has missed the boat
as far as higher education is concerned.

I
think I've missed a trick here in failing to consult my
accountant about tax returns.

I
think I'll give the book signing ceremony a miss. What
about you? ~ No, I'm going.

They
came fourth in the league and missed promotion by only
one point, but as the old saying goes: a miss is as good as
a mile.

miss
out on something = miss an opportunity that you would clearly
benefit from

hit
and miss / hit or miss = sometimes very successful, sometimes
not
near miss = when something is nearly hit by e.g. a vehicle or
a bomb
miss the boat = miss an opportunity which will probably not
arise again
miss a trick = fail to take advantage of an opportunity
give something a miss = to avoid it
a miss is as good as a mile = a failure is a failure by however
small an amount

NB1
Miss can be used as an alternative to Ms placed in
front of the name of an unmarried woman when the person concerned
wishes it to be known that she is single.

NB2
Miss Right or Mr Right can be used as expressions
to describe a woman or man who is regarded as an ideal marriage
partner:

He
was looking for the perfect Miss Right and had some difficulty
in finding her!

If
you would like more practice more please visit our in the You, Meand Us part of our
website.